Living The Lie

Sons of God, living in your imagination is spiritually dangerous for the mere fact that it enables you to be deceived in many ways:

1. Victimization – In the real world, you are always a victim of others. Someone is always doing something to either hurt or discredit you. It follows that you are always offended with someone. You are miserable and have come to expect nothing good from anyone. You feel that sooner or later someone is going to hurt or take advantage of you.

2. Stagnation – Even when your knowledge of Christ increases, you never grow up spiritually because you never allow the mind of Christ to handle the circumstances of your life. Therefore, you will always feel inadequate. This totally undermines the Christ in you and leaves you void of accomplishing His purpose for your life.

3. Fortified Pride – Either stubbornness and hardheartedness or timidity and low self worth will dominate your character. All are manifestations of both ends of the pride spectrum. If you refuse to put on the mind of Christ, then you will surely reject the influence that God sends through His Word. This is why it is so hard for you to change your ways and actions. You continue to confess a desire to change, but you have trained yourself to reject those who do not respond or cater to the image you have created of yourself, whether that image is one of high-mindedness or extreme intimidation. This rejection includes those God has placed in your life to perfect you in love. Neither of these postures will allow you to fully embrace the Word as law for your development.

4. Spiritual Arrogance – Years of operating in pride will lead you to spiritual arrogance. Oftentimes, this arrogance is manufactured by the way you think of yourself. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith (Romans 12:3). To exalt what you think of yourself before God and man, whether it is an image of greatness or one of intimidation is an insult to the Spirit within you. One thing is certain, spiritual arrogance drives you to the realm of your own imagination. In this fantasy world, many saints believe that they not only know God’s will for their life, but they also know how He plans to accomplish it. This is total deception because in order to know such things one must be in earnest fellowship with Him. The Father does not fellowship with pride and arrogance. His only response to you would be, “Repent of your wickedness.”

5. Lack of Submission - Submission to instituted authority is never a reality. Obedience to some things is simply an act born out of the fear of some type of displacement or loss. It is not the heart of pride to be told what to do unless such instruction is solicited. But even in a season where you attempt to submit to authority, self-will subtly attempts to undermine the authority of the Holy Ghost. It may do this by inventing or utilizing convenient excuses for not completely obeying authority. Pride has no problem making religious excuses for doing what it wants to do.

This operation is inevitable when those who do not walk in the Spirit attempt to obey spiritual demands or instructions from the position of the flesh. The fleshy mind will devise a way around complete and total obedience. Complete obedience makes you vulnerable to people. This is foreign territory for those of us who have walked in pride and stubbornness all our lives. You become afraid of such vulnerability and will oppose yourself in an attempt to protect your emotions.

6. Low Self-Esteem – At the other end of the pride spectrum is intimidation or low self-esteem. The lowliness of self is to be expressed in submission to the Spirit of God and not the intimidation of life’s circumstances or people. Once again we are dealing with pride, and all self-protecting devices are created by pride. In most cases of timidity or low self-esteem, the ruling principality is fear, not only the fear of failure, but also the fear of feeling. It does not matter if no one else knows of your failure . . . you know, and your pride punishes you with self-humiliation in the heart.

The internal feeling of humiliation becomes so great until you refuse to try anything else that has the possibility of failure in it. The progression of life is capsulated and placed in the small world you created for yourself to exist in. Moving outside of your own world even at the instruction of the Holy Ghost is totally unacceptable. Only dire need or extreme want will push you into the world of others. But often times pride and fear in the form of possible failure and rejection are so strong until you could choose to remain in your created world without the things you really want or need.

Beloved, I have lived in that prison. It is one that is created by the mind. It is completely void of regard for what God has purposed to accomplish through your life. I broke free and so can you.

A simple illustration of this can be seem when one saint may desire to purchase a nice home but has had less than perfect credit. Due to the fear of being turned down, that saint may never even try to purchase a house. While another would file the application and if it was turned down, would not hesitate to try again, even if it meant seeking the help or intervention of a professional or governmental credit management program. The bottom line is that they would not allow themselves to be discouraged by effort. They realize that life’s situations or accomplishments are not always going to be easy. Beloved, faith without courage to walk in it is dead.

The deception here is that you might think you have moved spiritually because you may have come from being blatantly disobedient or horrendously intimidated. However, God will accept nothing less than your continuous obedience to His instructions and not those of your own mind or heart.

Low self-esteem will alienate you from your brothers and sisters in Christ. You will live among them but detach yourself from them at the same time. Though the initial intent may not be malicious, in such cases you cannot help but to become selfish in dealing with them. This simply means that living in your imagination has robbed you of true fellowship with the people of God. As always, the solution to this and every spiritual error is the Word of God.

I John 1:3-5

3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

It is the spiritual nature for the sons to desire fellowship with one another.If you live a lifestyle that does not feel the need for true fellowship with the people of God, then you are indeed living the great Lie. Your thinking has not permitted the light of God to shine in your heart. God has given you all things that pertain to life and godliness.

Galatians 4:6

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

The Spirit of the son cries out for fellowship with the Father, but such fellowship is impossible without first the fellowship with your brothers and sisters in the Body. Do not be afraid of life and the things it may bring your way. The Father has made provisions for you to overcome all things.

Philippians 4:12-13

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Change your thinking. Obey the Word.

Philippians 4:6-8

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.